So DeFries told his local Dayton paper about the $6,000 fee he would have to swallow. But, when word got out, DeFries said:

“Every day our sales have been up between 200 and 300%. People we have never seen before are driving hours to support us and the employees.”

As well, he’s received lots of nice phone calls and supportive emails from all around the country thanking them for taking a stand and a risk. DeFries was with the U.S. Marine Corps and has now been on Fox News, the Sporting News and in the Washington Times.

DeFries went on to say that he feels good about his decision, but that it’s not about him, saying that “it turns out the enormous amount of pride and reverence that we have for the National Anthem… is shared by the vast majority of Americans.” Seeing it firsthand means that he knows that his stance is becoming less and less about him, and more about everyone else.

by Sir John Hawkins

John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.

One worker at ESPN admitted that he pretends to be a Democrat in order to keep his job, saying that there’s a “secret society” of conservatives working there. They all keep up the notion that they’re left-wing so they don’t get fired.

In September, Trump fired up Twitter to say ESPN has “bad programming” and that they’re paying “a really big price for its politics,” saying that viewers are “dumping it in RECORD numbers.” Then, he demanded an apology for their “untruth.” He was referring to ESPN host Jemele Hill who called Trump a white supremacist and bigot on Twitter. When she was put under fire, she gave one of those non-apologies we’ve seen daily from both the NFL and ESPN:

“My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs. My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light. My respect for the company and my colleagues remains unconditional.”